The room goes silent.  This never happens. 

                Ever. 

                The last time someone openly ordered Julia to leave someone alone, she was killing Jim.  And the look she gave us alone was enough to shut us up and let her drink the man out of a glass without another peep from us.

                “W-What?” says Julia, just as surprised as me and the other four captives hanging around.  “What did you say, Jack?”

                “I said leave her alone,” I say, swallowing hard, my throat rapidly drying to the point that I can barely get the words out clearly.

                David and Goliath.  I’m staring upward, defiant.  The terrifying goddess-woman staring down at me, fisting the girl I just realized I have genuine feelings for like a ragdoll.  I’d like to be able to say I’m feeling good, strong in the knowledge that I built up a good enough repertoire with Julia this morning in my hilarious act of flattery to withstand whatever I’ve just started.  But to tell you the truth, I can feel my bladder about to let loose.

                Julia is unsure of what to say.  She lowers her hand back down to me, the one still holding Gina.  Gina is just a few feet away from me now, her face washed out, sweat covering her forehead.

                “Jack… stop…” Gina whispers to me, her words cut off by her nervousness and the slightly labored breathing she has to undergo in order to get oxygen while in Julia’s death grip.  Julia’s fingers ripple around Gina’s body, teasing me.  Gina makes a slight “oog” noise as she does this.  Then, it happens again.  Harder.  She’s squeezing her, just to get at me.  I look up and see the stone face of Julia.  No emotion as she inflicts pain on the poor girl in her hand.

                “STOP,” I finally yell out.  I can’t look at this for much longer.   Julia pulls the hand holding Gina backward, then comes back down for me with the other.  And I’m willing to bet it’s not going to be a comfortable grip.

                I’m right. 

                With just her thumb and pointer finger, she grips my left ankle, then yanks outward, tripping me.  My head hits the plastic wall hard.  Brian and Kelly move forward protectively, but don’t do much else.  It’s not like they can do anything for me.

                With me down on the ground, Julia’s hand raises up slowly, letting me hang downward.  I look forward, seeing Gina in Julia’s humongous fist, having wrestled her arms loose from the powerful pull of Julia’s fingers.  She’s reaching out to me.  I wave to her and try to give her a thumbs up.  A moment later, I find myself moved right in front of Julia’s nose, looking downward (which is really upward, since I’m upside down) at Julia’s face.

                “Would you like to say that… one more time?” says Julia. 

                At this point, I can tell she’s in crazy mode.  Just like she was with Brian yesterday.  My reputation just might not be enough to save me. 

                And I couldn’t give a bigger shit.

                “I said, leave Gina alone.  She’s afraid of heights,” I say, gaining confidence in my newfound abandon of the situation. 

                Julia nods calmly.

                “I thought you said that,” she says, lowering her hand until I’m in front of her mouth.  “And what about you?  Aren’t you afraid of something else… too?” she says.  And then I see it. 

                Her lips part. 

                Her teeth gleam. 

                She smiles. 

                A low chuckle rumbles out from her throat. 

                The same ritual.  And then it happens; her teeth part, and being this close up I can see a lot more than I ever wanted to.

                A little river of saliva flowing around behind the wall of those huge, perfectly straight ivories.  Looking closer, though, I see a little tan speck, jammed between two of her teeth, probably from lunch.  The dark red cavern of her mouth, undulating and shining with spit, stretches back a good distance to her throat, which I can barely see the entrance to.  Thick strands of saliva stay attached to her molars and the roof of her mouth at various places like clear, shining stalactites in this awful cave.

                But of course, all that is an afterthought.  “It” is what my eyes are really drawn to. 

                Her tongue. 

                A singular mass of twisting pink muscle, completely slimed in her digestive enzymes, covered in rows of taste buds like cups on the bottom of octopus tentacles, its width changing every few seconds as she involuntarily flexes it; the strongest muscle in her powerful body.  It dips quickly, upsetting the serene lake of saliva collected at the bottom of her mouth with a soft “plunk” noise that probably only I can hear.  And then it rears forward, curling forward, and creeps over the threshold of her teeth, leaving several potent strands of saliva attached from the base of her mouth.  Then it stops.

                “No, I’m not afraid,” I finally manage to say, getting a bit dizzy as the blood rushes to my head.

                “Oh, you’re not?” says Julia nonchalantly, her tongue whipping back into her mouth so she can speak.

                “No.  I’m not.”

                “Well, that’s funny.  Because I think you should be.  Just think about it.  How easy it would be.  How I could just open my mouth ALL the WAY, and put you… inside me…” she says, the same pleasure creeping back into her voice that she got from Brian. 

                I’d literally be willing to bet she’s getting sexual pleasure out of what she’s threatening to do.  The way her voice descends to such a focused murmur, it’s really quite plausible.  And scary as holy hell. 

                She continues, “I could just… SUCK on you.  I’d suck on you until all the flavor was gone.  Until your skin was falling off of your little body, Jack.  Is that what you’re telling me, Jack?  You wouldn’t be afraid if I put you inside my mouth right now and sucked your skin off?”

                I swallow again.  But I’m still.  Completely still. 

                Hell, I haven’t even pissed my pants; that’s the real miracle here.  I listen to the silence and can make out the muted sobs of Gina, still gripped in Julia’s other hand, probably already mourning my untimely death.

                “NO,” I say with force, not rudely.  I just say it.  Like I mean it.  I’m not sure if I actually DO mean it or not, but I say it nonetheless.

                “No.  You wouldn’t be afraid.  But think about it.  When ALL your skin had fallen off and you were screaming…” she says, her voice going lower.  That last word in particular seems to make her happy.  Her smile gets even wider, if that’s possible.   “…screaming for me to let you out.  To give you another chance.  But I won’t.  I’ll just smile, and then I’ll close my teeth together and chew you up reaaaaally slooooowly, Jack.  And when I’m done with that, you’ll go ALL the way down THERE…” she quips, opening her mouth wider.  Light streams in, and I can see her uvula all the way in the back of her throat.  “And you’ll be inside me… forever.  You’d be food to me, Jack.  A piece of food.  One bite.  That’s all you are.”

                I’m silent.  As is she.  I look up at her eyes, fire in them, studying me for a reaction.  I realize that there is little to no chance of going back.  She’s never gone this far and NOT acted somehow.  Except when I was there and was up next on the chopping block.  But now it’s me, first, on the chopping block.  And there’s no one to save me.

                “You wouldn’t do it,” I say, almost mockingly.  I don’t know where that came from, but I figure I might as well say something; the longer the silence I take, the more I have time to think about what I’m doing, and the more I’ll probably start to realize I could very well be about to die.  It’s best not to consider that.

                “Oh… I think I would,” she answers, laughing at me lightly, mocking my answer right back.  Her mammoth tongue pokes out from between her nearly closed teeth again, moistly slobbering over her lip crevices, creeping slowly toward me.